The South Carolina Air National Guard’s 169th Fighter Wing was named the overall winner of Falcon Air Meet 2009, a multinational F-16 competition hosted by Jordan. The event ran from late October through Nov. 3 at Mwaffaq Salti Air Base. The South Carolina Air Guardsmen bested units from the Belgian and Jordanian air forces, by winning three of the four individual competitions (large force employment, formation arrival, and weapons load), finishing second to the Jordanians in the fourth (scramble launch and intercept), and taking home the top maintenance award. “I could not be prouder of what the South Carolina Air National Guard accomplished here,” said Col. Michael Hudson, 169th Operations Group commander. The first Falcon Air Meet took place in 2006. This year was the first time an ANG unit represented the US. (Mwaffaq Salti report by MSgt. Richard B. Hodges)
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
